


Fall of the King of Embers

by Sirkel489



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers, Original Work
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Cardverse, Hetalia Countries Using Human Names, Not Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:27:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26818063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sirkel489/pseuds/Sirkel489
Summary: This work is pretty much entirely original characters set in the hetalia- cardverse exploring lore before the reign of King Ivan.There may be more posted though it may be out of chronological order.I probs won't allow comments, but I hope you guys enjoy this until I get something really exciting cooked up!





	Fall of the King of Embers

**Author's Note:**

> Please remember these segments were intended for separate posting, all of the characters in this story are entirely fictional, and similarities to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
> 
> I'm not actually sure how to tag this??

Treason.

They take a seat in the hole in the wall bar, Anton sits in a position suited to obscure the new queen. He gives her a concerned look, he already knows why they're there.  
“ Miss Elizabeta-”  
“I will be Frank with you, Anton, I need to know where you stand.” She says pensively.  
“It is clear you respect the king, I'm sorry there is no longer any other way to go about it... Will you be able to help me overthrow the King of clubs?”  
Anton shifts uncomfortably, he never thought he would fall to a traitorous plot. He toils for a moment, he, the late Queen, and the King had once been good friends. He could no longer justify her actions, she was more and more aggressive. It had to stop before she undid all of her own great work by destroying her entire kingdom.  
“I will help you. But I must be with her, no one else will give her the dignity she deserves… even after everything she has done- All of the terrible things.” He says sternly. Elizabeta's expression softens, though she doesn't understand his desire, she accepts this answer.  
“Now. We must discuss where the heart is located.. And how to obtain it.”  
“then this reign of embers can come to a close, and the kingdom can begin healing.” She says quietly, and Anton nods in agreement.  
"I will take you to the heart. Resignation.

Anton leads Elizabeta to his study, and pulls several books off the shelf, and retrieves a very dusty locked box. He dusts it off gingerly, a faint beat can be heard, the given heart of the late queen.  
“Please…treat it kindly, go to the woods, deep in the North, there is a lake, beyond that lake to the east, you will find a ruined settlement from years past, in the center of the ruins you will find a clay oven. You must light a flame in the oven, and Stoke it until it is nearly unbearable, kiss it and have one of the guards put it in the oven…”  
Elizabeta takes the box delicately in her hands, it's warm, strangely comforting.  
Time is of the essence, but she hugs him with one arm and Anton hugs her.  
“we will see the dawn, old man.”  
“be safe, my queen.”  
Elizabeta makes her way from the study to the stable, meeting up with her guards who've been set to travel with her, Ream, Janthony, Angelina, and Uli.  
“Each of you, take a pearl, they will light your way. We'll go north to the lake, then east.” Elizabeta gives them each a pearl and nods to Janthony to begin his flight. They saddle up and follow Janthony's lead to the north.

the evacuation.  
2:36 A.M.  
Anton awakens the senior guards, calling them for an evacuation. They rub the sleep from their eyes, throwing their boots on and making their rounds gathering the house servants shaking them from their sleep to flee their home for an unknown reason.  
There is chaos, the concerned murmurs of the staff as they are ushered out into the cool spring night with only what they could carry, the shoes on their feet, and the clothes on their backs. Cezary is shaken awake by Anton, concern filled his father's eyes.  
Dread fills Cezary, he knows he wouldn't be woken if it weren't important.  
“I need you to go to Arorah, tell her to free the owls from the owlry and escape the castle, she can carry you out as well. Go, swiftly!”  
Cezary nods, jumping from his bed and pulls on his boots. He pauses a moment, Anton's hand holding his shoulder, they lock eyes, Anton pulls him into a hug, Cezary pats his back and they separate.  
"Don't worry father, it will be done."  
Cezary runs out of his dorm and in the opposite direction of the other evacuating house staff, passing Vladimir missing him narrowly in the hall. A bit baffled, Vladimir follows Cezary into the dark castle halls.  
Not knowing the danger that looms over the kingdom.  
\--  
the oven.

2:00 A.M  
Elizabeta and her guards reach the outskirts of the ruined village, once home to the päällikkö, who stood against the king of embers. His ruined home encircles a magically pristine clay oven.  
“this is it! The oven Anton told me to find! “ Elizabeta exclaims pointing out the tall mass in the distance. Ream dismounts, followed by Uli and Angelina.  
“get wood! We need kindling to light the fire” Ream commands sending them to the woods.  
Elizabeta holds the box tight, she'd found the key some time ago, believing the box would also be just as difficult to find. A moment of thought and she removes the key from her neck. Feeling the gentle beat of the heart inside she feels her own heart ache.  
Uli glances to her, noticing her discomfort in holding the small box and places a small gloved hand on hers.  
"It will be alright, my queen."  
Elizabeta, a bit surprised by the touch having focused so hard on the rhythmic beating in her hands, smiles.  
"I know.. You know.. For a little while I considered it lady luck who brought us all here.. But I think it may have been the land guiding me to you and the others here helping us. Something in my heart begged me to trust you. And now I'm glad I listened." Elizabeta looks from Uli beside her, then to Ream and Angelina working with the oven, clear up to Janthony watching the horizon.  
Once the fire is lit Angelina stokes it, blowing into it. The heat is enough to irritate her scar as she backs away and Ream takes over, stoking the fire to immense heat with Angelina's instruction.

2:30 A.M.

The oven is searing hot, too hot to be near now without pain. Elizabeta unlocks the box and gingerly removes the softly beating heart, it's warm, full of love, and comfort. She hesitates a moment before planting a small kiss upon the ever beating heart and giving it to Ream, the one who'd volunteered to take it to the oven.  
With that Ream places the Heart in the oven and shuts the doors. Suddenly, an old voice speaks to him, deep and warm.  
"For committing this atrocity you shall also suffer, your strife will be that of a bear, this curse will rest upon you until the end of your days!" Ream reflexively jumps back but before he knows it, he stumbles and falls into the grass blacking out.  
Elizabeta, Uli, Janthony, and Angelina watch in a bit of horror as Ream is sent stumbling back from the clay oven curling up on the ground, they watch in significantly greater horror as he begins to change.  
Then the oven shows signs of cracking as the magic contained in the heart releases to protect itself but is held tight in the inferno.

2:58 A.M.  
-  
Heartbreak  
3:00 A.M.

“forgive me, my friend…” Anton knelt before the door, praying for a moment before opening the door quietly. He steps inside, shutting it just as quietly taking careful paces toward the massive bed kneeling beside it taking a soft breath.  
The dark seemed to swallow him whole, it would have been any moment now, the pain would set in. He feared for her. Soon she shifted, groaning softly, for now he had to keep her comfortable, but it wouldn't last.

Natasha groans and shifts her heart aching, she wakes with a sweat. Her eyes clenched with pain her mind races, she'd seen her late beloved so much, could that have been it? Another rush of pain surges from her chest, hot tears spill from her eyes she cries out in agony, clutching her chest. Then, clarity strikes Anton- her heart- her body aches as it begins to change she struggles and shouts, enraged.  
Anton looks down, he's ashamed, he'd betrayed her, his heart ached and his mind raced.  
"My king- it's time!" He cries, "your queen needs you!"

Natasha shrieks with rage and agony feathers bristling from her figure the heat of the room increased to an unbearable degree, suddenly before Anton stood a Phoenix, it's bright Amber eyes glowed in the darkness, it's feathers flicker like smouldering ashes.  
Anton stumbles backward before the bird could step on him, however, Natasha had a different idea she leaned forward and snatched his right leg in her beak and stretched her wings and took off breaking through the stone walls and a window into the hallway, the resulting sparks of flame seemed to grow quickly and before Anton knew it she had broken through the ceiling then up to the next floor. His leg ached caught in the burning beak of this terrible beast finally they broke through into the night air.  
Cezary runs, the way to the owlry was quite a maze in the dark, he finally registers the second set of footsteps, he looks back and spots Vladimir following him, he falters.  
"Vladimir! Get out of here! You need to get out of the castle!!"  
"You looked like you might need help! I thought I would follow just in case!"  
"There will be no way out for the both of us if you follow! Turn-"  
Cezary cuts off, the fire from several floors below had caught up to them. He catches something out of the corner of his eye, something big outside the bubbly textured window.

Smoke rises from the lower levels of the castle fire spreading fast Natasha takes a running start the castle crumbled behind her and she finally takes off flying up into the night sky, her wings taking full form now, she swooped down dropping Anton roughly to the ground letting him lie, she needed to get to her heart. A bit of disorientation, she hits the roof of the castle and clips the owlry tower with her fiery wing causing part of it to collapse  
Cezary looks up hearing a terrible noise from above, Vladimir flinches looking about before noticing the smoke. They both hear a great and terrible noise from above.  
Then, Cezary sees it, the stone wall cracks, the ceiling begins caving in, he panics and rushes forward shoving Vladimir out of the way of the collapsing ceiling. Then with a deafening sound, and the cry of Cezary, they are trapped in a hallway sealed off by the cave-in of the ceiling.  
Vladimir is stunned for a moment coughing to clear his throat of the dust getting to see where Cezary wound up. His heart drops, his eyes widen and he covers his mouth to stifle an audible gasp. An arm, with a Clubian protection charm wrapped around the wrist protrudes from beneath the rubble.

Smoke quickly fills the cut off hallway as Vladimir tries to move the rubble away, but to no avail, most of it is simply too heavy for him to move, he coughs hard as he digs. Tears well up in his eyes, he wheezes and sobs, it felt useless, he exerts himself begging anyone who would listen for help. No one came. 

\--

Finale

Janthony watches the dark horizon staring hard into the distance before he perks up- a bright tiny spot in the distance it makes his heart skip with anxiety.  
"My queen! Something has happened! There's fire on the horizon!"  
"That must be her! Get ready! We need to be prepared for an imminent attack!" Elizabeta commands as Uli readies his halberd as Angelina tends to a thoroughly bearified Ream.

3:40 A.M.

the loud shriek of a great bird fills the dark woods, the kind of noise that makes your heart beat wrong. The small party comes close together, shuddering when the Phoenix appears and Eliza's eyes go wide.  
"WAIT! I must take care of her on my own!" She exclaims as Uli and Janthony nod and fall back to protect Angelina and Ream.  
Uli keeps his halberd handy and watches as the Phoenix descends ashes and embers falling from it's beautiful but terrifying, the queen looks so small against the gargantuan bird.  
Elizabeta looks up to the bird now grounded after her flight. She readies her weapon as the Phoenix begins its attack but something isn't quite right, it pecks at the tiny woman but misses, with some avoidance from Elizabeta. The bird shrieks with rage flapping its wings sending ashes and embers across the small party then goes in for another attack as the clay oven finally cracks and crumbles in on itself. The Phoenix lunges forward, missing Elizabeta for a final time, it hits the ground and seems to cry a single molten tear as a single feather falls from it's wing and it takes a deep shuddering breath.  
Eliza stoops down and retrieves the loose feather, the final object she needed for her quest to officially end.

4:00 A.M.

It was over  
The oven, the heart, and the king were all left in ashes.  
The castle too was merely rubble the fire has consumed most of it and several surrounding buildings.

**Author's Note:**

> Check out the tumbr blogs that are involved  
> @askthekingofclubs- king Natasha - Moscow, Angelina  
> @cards-of-the-royal-guard - cezary, uli, anton, cassian, Ream, Janthony,  
> &  
> @ask-thejokers - Vladimir


End file.
